Artists

• Simone Young

  Conductor

  After completing her musical studies in her native Sydney, Australia, Simone Young began her career on the podium in Germany. She has since conducted at most of the most important opera houses and symphony orchestras around the world. She started her current position as chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony in the autumn of 2020.

  Her 2021–22 season guest appearances include productions at the Zurich Opera House, Vienna Staatsoper, Berlin Staatsoper, and Opera de Paris, as well as concerts with the Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre national de France, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, National Polish Radio Symphony, and the New York Philharmonic.

  Ms. Young’s previous titled positions include principal guest conductor of the Orchestre Chambre de Lausanne (2017–20), principal conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic (1998–2002), artistic director of Opera Australia (2001–03), principal guest conductor of Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Orchestra, and artistic director of Hamburg Staatsoper and chief music director of the Hamburg Philharmonic (2005–15). As guest conductor, she has led the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic and both the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and the Berlin Konzerthausorchester, in addition to several North American orchestras and various orchestras in her native Australia.

  In addition to complete recordings of Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler and Wagner’s Ring with Hamburg Staatsoper, the OehmsClassics label has released her recordings with the Hamburg Philharmonic of the complete Bruckner symphonies (in their original versions), Brahms’s complete symphonies, Mahler’s Sixth and Seventh Symphonies, and Franz Schmidt’s The Book with the Seven Seals. Her performance of the rediscovery of Halevy’s La Juive at Vienna Staatsoper is available on CD, and her Bavarian Staatsoper performances of Pfitzner’s Palestrina and Janáček´s Aus einem Totenhaus, and her Hamburg performances of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites and of Aribert Reimann’s Lear are all on DVD.

  Along with honorary doctorates from the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne, Simone Young counts the Brahms Prize of Schleswig-Holstein and the Goethe Medal among her numerous accolades. She is a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in France, a Member of the Order of Australia, and a Professor at the Academy of Music and Theatre in Hamburg.

  Learn more about Simone Young

• Sheku Kanneh-Mason

  Cello

  Sheku Kanneh-Mason became a household name in 2018 after performing at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Windsor Castle, a performance watched by almost two billion people around the world. He initially garnered renown as the winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician competition, the first Black musician to take the title. He has released two chart-topping albums on the Decca Classics label, Inspiration in 2018 and Elgar in 2020.

  
  Learn more about Sheku Kanneh-Mason

• Gary A. Padmore

  Host